Thursday, March 15, 2012

GREENSBORO — The comparison is a natural one. In 2009, North Carolina began the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, and with one of its star players, Ty Lawson, attempting to recover from an injury that placed his status for the tournament in doubt.

On Friday, North Carolina will begin play in the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, and with one of its star players, John Henson, attempting to recover from an injury that has placed his status in doubt.

For Lawson, it was a toe that ailed him. For Henson, a wrist. Different injuries, of course, and different situations, UNC coach Roy Williams said earlier today. Williams acknowledged that what happened then, with Lawson, and what’s happening now, with Henson, are similar in some respects.

But in others the scenarios don’t compare.

“I'm awfully uncomfortable talking about it because I don't know what I'm going to do,” Williams said, asked whether the experience he went through with Lawson’s uncertainty has helped him prepare amid Henson’s injury. “Ty's was a little different; Ty hurt it and then came back and played and was very successful and then it ballooned up on him again. So it was almost like a recurrence, but he didn't get it hit again.

“It's just the swelling went up there. There is the difference of that and there's also the difference of that with Bobby [Frasor] particularly I knew that we would be very solid at the point guard spot. Bobby is not Ty, but Bobby had played that position before and I had tremendous amount of confidence in him. We had so many weapons with Danny and Wayne and Tyler; we just had a lot of weapons there.

“But I also know that Ty Lawson came in in the second game against LSU and if he had not played that game, I don't think we would have won that game. His second half performance was about as good as any half I've ever seen a point guard play in any stage. So, yeah, it does, there are some similarities, but it certainly [has not] made me more comfortable in what I'm trying to decide right here.”

Lawson sat out UNC’s first NCAA tournament victory in 2009, but returned to help lead the Tar Heels to a victory against LSU in the third round. Henson’s status, meanwhile, remains in doubt for UNC’s game on Friday against Vermont.

About this blog

David Scott has been with the Observer for 28 years and has written about ACC, SEC and other college sports in the Charlotte region. He covers Wake Forest, South Carolina and college soccer for the Observer and (Raleigh) News & Observer.

J.P. Giglio covers the ACC for the News & Observer, where he has worked since 1997, and the Observer.

Andrew Carter covers the North Carolina Tar Heels for the Observer and News & Observer.

Laura Keeley covers the Duke Blue Devils for the Observer and News & Observer. Follow her on Twitter.

Chip Alexander covers the Carolina Hurricanes and college football for the News & Observer, where he has worked since 1979, and the Observer.

Luke DeCock has worked for The News & Observer since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist for the Observer and News & Observer in August 2008.

Tim Crothers is an author and former senior writer at Sports Illustrated who is joining the sports staff to write a regular column during the rest of the college basketball season.